[texhax] TFM format question

Doug McKenna doug at mathemaesthetics.com
Thu Apr 21 00:27:00 CEST 2011


Reinhard Kotucha wrote -

>It would be helpful to know how this range is determined.

Yes it would, but I think I solved the problem.  Something about the file 
is corrupt, and I wasn't operating on the official file in the 
distribution, I was operating on a directory of copies I had made some 
time back.

After much trashing, testing, poking, and confusion, I happened to notice 
that the .tfm file's size, as reported by the file system (I'm on a Mac) 
ended in a 1.  Then I noticed that all the other Computer Modern .tfm 
files in the same directory also had odd sizes. Then I remembered that 
all TFM files are supposed to have sizes in multiples of 4 bytes.  Then I 
recalled that I had downloaded some zip file somewhere with all the 
Computer Modern TFM files supposedly in it, which is where I got the 
copies.

I've now replaced them all with the official copies from 
.../texlive/2010/texmf-dist/..., all with good-looking sizes, and now the 
"manfnt.tfm" file (I checked with my hex editor) has a glyph range from 0 
to 127.

Anyway, better a corrupt file than an inconsistent universe. :)

Apologies, and thanks.



Doug McKenna



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